Tigers fall in Martin's return to Tennessee

Wednesday

Cuonzo Martin’s first Power 5 head-coaching job was at Tennessee in 2012. Even then, Martin’s teams were known for being hard-nosed and gritty.

Now the coach of Missouri, Martin returned to Knoxville for the first time since leaving the Vols in 2014 and not much has changed.

While Martin isn’t one to be happy with a moral victory, it’s hard to be upset with the performance his young Missouri team put together in Knoxville.

The Tigers, after losing by 24 to Tennessee on Jan. 8 at Mizzou Arena, battled with the Vols for 40 minutes before losing 72-60 Tuesday on the road. Tennessee (21-1, 9-0) pushed their nation’s best winning streak to 17 games, while the Tigers fell to 11-10 (2-7 SEC).

“I thought both teams played hard. A lot of energy on the floor, a lot of toughness and physical play,” Martin said on his postgame radio interview. “I thought our game plan was good, but we just came up short.”

Much like the first matchup between these two teams, Missouri hopped out to an hot start over the streaking Vols.

A Javon Pickett jump shot gave the Tigers a 17-13 lead with 12:31 left to play in the first half. Pickett led Missouri with 12 points, scoring in double figures for the third time in the last four games. Pickett shot 5 of 18 from the field.

“Javon was 5 of 18 but he was aggressive and assertive,” Martin said.

After Pickett’s jump shot, the Tigers went cold from the field and Tennessee warmed up. The Vols answered Missouri’s start with a 18-2 run and took a 31-19 lead with 5:13 left to play in the first half.

During that run, Missouri went more than five minutes without a point.

Unlike the first matchup, when the Vols stretched their double-digit lead into halftime, the Tigers answered Tennessee’s run.

A Pickett 3-pointer cut the Vols lead to just five points with 2:17 left in the first half. Tennessee turned that back into a 9-point lead quickly after. A Jeremiah Tilmon layup right before halftime cut Tennessee’s deficit to 37-31 heading into halftime.

Tilmon finished the game playing more than 26 minutes for the seventh straight game. Tilmon finished with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and just one turnover.

Kevin Puryear, who ended his two-game scoreless stretch by scoring eight points in the game, cut Missouri’s deficit to four points on its first possession of the second half. Puryear also grabbed six rebounds.

Tennessee flexed its muscle soon after that. Leading by four points with just 18:29 left in the game, the Vols went on an 11-0 run to take a 15-point lead with 14:58 left in the game.

A game that looked to be over, never truly got away from the Tigers. Missouri cut the Tennessee lead to eight points twice late in the second half, but could never get the deficit below that.

For the fourth straight game, Mark Smith did not play for the Tigers. Smith sprained his left ankle against Arkansas on Jan. 23 and the Tigers haven’t found their touch from deep since. Missouri shot 29 percent from deep on Tuesday, the third time Missouri was under the 30 percent mark since Smith went down.

Xavier Pinson got his third straight start in Smith’s absence and tallied 10 points, eight rebounds, one turnover and no assists against Tennessee. Missouri turned the ball over just nine times in the game, its second straight game with just nine turnovers.

“One thing about X, he isn’t afraid of a challenge. He embraces that,” Martin said. “Just the growth. It’s something you gain over time.”

It wasn’t a win for Missouri, but Tuesday’s performance was a step in the right direction against the top team in the country.

And in his road trip back to Knoxville, Martin showed that his teams still have the same grit as they always have.

crobinson@columbiatribune.com

573-815-1781

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